of the unalienated Crown lands. Similarly, Ontario will probably 
always have not more than one third of its total area fit for the plow. 
This happens to be a balance fixed by nature and the part of wisdom 
is to realise not only from the tillable lands, but the huge untillable 
areas every dollar of profit that may be derived. 
a 
Sweden’s An interesting illustration is afforded by Sweden. Its 
pee Forest latitude is much higher than that of New Brunswick 
Paitic Teese while it is six times greater’ in area. Sweden realized 
early that the eggs of prosperity are not carried neces- 
sarily in the one basket of agriculture. Enormous forests, growing 
on soil no better than New Brunswick’s, within short reach of the 
European timber markets, promised splendid returns if properly managed. 
“Proper management” of course meant, not: the hit-or-miss exploita- 
tion that characterizes so much of Canada’s forest development, but 
scientific care in the growing and harvesting of timber as a crop. What 
the yield’ of a given area would be fifty years hence was of more im- 
portance than the catching of a momentary profit. Fire, the arch 
enemy of forests, was met and overcome. Fire, indeed, has in the 
main, been successfully excluded from the great forests of Europe for 
from fifty toone hundred years. Conservation and good forest management 
are meaningless terms as long as the plague of flames sweeps off in a 
week more than the constructive forester can accomplish in ten years. 
Today, Sweden is taking from her forests, as the dividends of fire pro- 
tection and sensible development (and without impairing the precious 
“capital stock”’ of timber as New Brunswick does,) no less a sum than 
$100,000,000 a year, representing the value of wood and its manu- 
factures. The share taken by the public treasury is no.less than 85,000,000 
a@ year. 
What the Tree One does not need, however, to cross the oceans to 
does for learn what forests accomplish for the enrichment of 
New Brunswick. , people. In a twelve month the sum of $15,000,000 
is distributed in New Brunswick from lumber and pulp products. An- 
other million dollars worth of wood is used by settlers for fuel and build- 
ing materials. The Government of New Brunswick gains over $500,000 
a year from various Crown timber taxes to ease the burden that must 
otherwise be placed on the public for administration expenses. This 
sum will be materially increased as the result of recent re-adjustments 
of the dues on Crown timber. The forests of the province are 
producing wealth each year within about four million dollars of 
the whole value of agricultural production. 
Only untillable The timberman asks only non-agricultural soil for his 
Soil is needed =wood crop and every million dollars brought to the 
for'thisCrop. = province by timber means an increased demand for 
everything the farmer has to sell. One cannot emphasize too strongly 
that more than seventy per cent. of the land area of New Brunswick 
will never pay a profit to the plow. From the wood crops of that seventy 
per cent the province must take its chief share of future prosperity. 
Contrary to a prevalent impression, forests, under modern lumber- 
ing conditions and with free access to fire, do not perpetuate themselves, 
except in part and that'very unsatisfactorily and with extreme slowness 
3 
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